Shoe machine



1944- c. A. ROBINSON SHOE MACHINE Filed May 20, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l I 1944- c. A. ROBINSON 2,354,757

SHOE MACHINE Filed May 20, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet} Patented Dec. 12, 1944 unrrso STATES PAT EZNT OFFICE .snon moms: Charles A. Robinson, Salern, ass ignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Fleming 'ton, N. J a corporation New Iersey Application May 23, 1943, Serial-No. 487,711

it Ula'ims.

'and closely to the :face of the feather and outside pf therib of the insole. This bulge or lump comes substantially at the points where ithe inseam should begin, and :end, :andlt'his irregtflarity in theoontouroi the overla'sted'upper makes it :diflicult for the ioperator'of the welt sewing machine to position-the .shoe .so that the :needle will strike exactly .at the baseof .theinsole riband in the angle between it-he .fieathersand the rib. Instead, the needle is more likely to engage the uppermaterial at a point (away fnom .this angle, making a wide stitch "which is detrimental to .fine shoemak- .-ing. .It has :been the practice for theshoemaker.

to shape .theshoe at these points by {pounding smiths. hammer .to bring the upper materials down onto the feather and .in against the rib, but this requires considerable labor, time and skill and is likely to beneglected or imperfectly .done. Various types of power-operated machines 'for shaping the upper'materia'lsad'jacent to the 'breastline by means of pressure,.;percu'ss'ive action Or rubbing 'have also beenjpropos'ed. p

A principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved machine for "shaping the "upper materials the opposite sides of a Goodyear welt shoe, adjacent to the brea's'tline, '-'by means of "a heated ironing and pressing 'tool which is simple in construction, easy to operate, and very effective in its action. "To this end, and in accordance with a feature of this "invention, the machine is provided with a rapidly :reciprocat'ing tool which is movable to and hem an operative position to'getherwith supporting me ans for locating a shoe position for the upper materia'ls at one side thereof and adjacent to the breastline to be engaged by the tool as itris moved to operative position. Preferably, and as shown, the shoe-supporting means comprises a member for engaging the inside angle of insole rib of a "shoe, held bottom up in the hands 'of the opaerator, wto hol'd'the againstwidthwise movement by the tool, the member being emamged so to position the shoe that the advancing tool "will strike the upper materials just below the point where start toourve abruptly inward over the edge. of the insole. The. supporting .means yieldably mounted so that .it can follow the shoe when shoe moves downwardly, as permitted the operator, during thecontinued advance of tool; In this ,way the upper materialsare wiped ingover the featherand tightened on the side of melast, by the advancing tool, so. that mink-ling, or loosening, thereof at the side of the shoe isavoided. supporting mean-s also'has 5a surf-ace which bears against the inside of rib to preventit .irom being .bent over by the pressune of the tool in pressing the upper materials against its outside face and .anarrow edge which forms a well-defined crease at the inside angle Qfthe rib, .As the tool 'ad-v-ances in over thebottom of the shoe, the upper materials are ironed down onto the feather and eventually creased in'against the rib, the effect of heated tool greatly facilitating. this action and; tendin tosettheupperinplace.

The "above and other objects and ieatures of this inventionwill appear in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, shownin the accompanying drawings, amdnwill be moin-tedout in the claims. i i

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a View inside elevation of a machine embodying this invention;

Fin-245 a View, also in side elevation and at an' enlarged scale. of the operating parts of the ,maohine shown in Fig. 1.; i

1 Fig. (3 .is .a plan view ofrthese parts; and

, Fig.- 4-fis a sectional View taken on line JV-I -V -of, Fig. 2., docking indirection of arrows.

- illustrated machine com-prises .a head 1.0

. This edge is rounded off at "its oppnositeends and htly 10011- flp nalted upon, by means of an meentr ic i 30 nn the end of a shaft 32. eccentric iisimgsecured to the shaft holds the parts in operative positions with the upper and lower surfaces of the arm in free sliding engagement with the block portions 38 and 40 and'a finished boss 44 on the arm I2 from which the shaft extends.

. A pulley 46, secured to :the shaft by means of a taper pin 48, bears against another'finished boss 50 and thus prevents downward movement of thi shaft and the arm I8. This pulley is driven by a belt 52 which extends rearwardly over idlers 54,*one of which is shown in Fig. 1, and downwardly to a suitable source of power (not-shown).

The block 22 is T-shaped and is slidably metaed in a T-shaped guide 60 which extends forwardly from the head I0. This block is also hollowed out at 62 to receive a trunnion pin 64 andtrunnion block 66 which is embraced by the forked end 68 of one arm 10 ore bell-crank lever "extending upwardly through an opening I2 'in the bottom of the guide. This bell-crank lever is pivotally mounted on the head by means of a shaft 14- and its other'arm I6 carries a treadle rod 18. The opening 'I2'terminates at each end in surfaces 80 and 82 which cooperate with stop 'surfaces84 and 86 on the arm 10 to limit swinging movement of this arm,'and likewise sliding moveably such that with the shoe presented as above described in engagement with the support I6 the bottom face 28 of the tool is just a little below a horizontal plane passing through the feather of the insole I. The tool is now moved inwardly toward the shoe by means of the treadle rod I8, bell crank 16 and block 22, and strikes the shoe at just about the point where the upper materials start-to lay in over the shoe bottom. Upon continued movement of the tool the shoe is pressed downwardly, the support I6 following this downward movement by pivoting about the pin I I0, against the action of the spring H2 and the resistance set up by the operator, and the upper materials are wiped in over the feather. Ultimately the tool reaches the position shown in ment of the block 22, in opposite directions. Normally these parts are held to the left, and the tool I4 in an inoperative position away from-the work, Fig. 1, by means of a tension spring 88 which is secured at one end to the arm 16 and at itsother end to a pin I00 extending from the front 1 end of the guide 60.

The work support I6 has a beveled front face "I02 and is mounted on a supporting block I04 which is secured to the arm I2 by means of a in an extended portion of the block which permits heightwise adjustment of the work support relative to the tool I4. The work support is pivj'oted to the block by means of a pin H0 and has an end portion I I4 which is engaged by a spring II2. This spring, the tension of which may be varied by means of a screw plug II8, normally .a shoe S, comprising an upper U, an insol I, a

counter stiffener C and a lining L, which previously has been lasted alon the sides and around the heel end, and presents it bottom upward against the support I6 withthe bottom face of the insole ina substantiallyhorizontal plane and with the narrow edge of the support engaging the insole in the angle formed by the inside face of a rib R on the insole and the bottom faced the insole. I It will be understood that th shoe is Sthus positioned with the support I6 in the 10- cality where it is desired to iron-in the upper materials. The tool I4 is at this time in its inoperative position, i. e., spaced ashort distance widthwise from the shoe, and is being rapidly reciprocated lengthwiseof the shoe. The adjusted position of the block lM-on the arm I2 is preferscrew I06. This screw passes through a slot I08 l the tool.

Fig. 2 'where. it irons th upper materials down onto the feather F of the insole and into the angle between the feather and rib R which is supported .by;the front face I02 of the support I6. During this action the operator may swing the shoe, about I6 as a pivot, to accommodate the particular conditionof the upper materials and slope of the feather and he can also, after the tool has reached it'slimit of inward movement, press the shoe up against the tool to enhance the ironingaction.

The zone of, operation of the working face of the tool is great enough to cover all of that part of the upper materials on one side of a shoe which need to be shaped in the ordinary run of shoes.

However, the shoe can be shiftedl'engthwise by the operator, if desired, to bring other portions of the upper materials into engagement with the The heated tool sets the upper materials into the position shown "in Fig. 2 and eliminates the bulging or bridging of the upper materials, which is almost always presentadjac'ent to the'breast inne. A comparison of Fig. 1, in which the bridging is'evidenced by the space B, with Fig. 2, in which this space has been eliminated,will demonstrate the improved condition of the upper which is obtained by the use of this machine.

'The support I6 engages the insole rib to prevent Widthwise movement of the shoe as the tool is advanced, and its narrow edge, which is pressed firmly into the inside angle of the rib by resisting the widthwise thrust of the tool, forms a definite crease. for receiving the anvil of the inseaming machine. Theadvantages of having'the upper materialsironed in against the feather and into the angle of the rib at the breast line from the standpoint of starting and finishing the inseaming operation have been pointed out above and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. This ironing operation can be done in a 'very short time with this machine and, when the operator has the shoe in his hand, he can conveniently smooth up other parts of the shoe by using either the bottom or front rounded faces 28 or 24 of Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is: g

l. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising a tool for forcing the upper materials'down onto a feather and in against a rib on theinsole of the shoe, means for engaging the bottom of a shoe to locate the shoe in proper heightwise relation to the tool, means for rapidly andcontinuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials. v

2. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising a heated tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe,

means for engaging the bottom of a shoe to locate the shoe in proper heightwise relation to the tool, means for rapidly and continuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

3. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising an ironing tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe, said tool being arranged for movement to and from an operative position, means for engaging the bottom of a shoe, held by an operator to locate the shoe heightwise so that the point where the upper curves inwardly over the bottom of the shoe is substantially in line with the tool, means for rapidly and continuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

4. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising a reciprocating ironing tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe, said tool being arranged for movement to and from an operative position, means for engaging the bottom of a shoe, held in the hands of an operator, to locate the shoe heightwise so that the tool, when it is advanced, will engage the upper materials at the point where the upper starts to curve abruptly inwardly over the shoe bottom and move the shoe downwardly, said shoe-engaging means being yieldable in one direction so as to follow the shoe in its downward movement as the tool is advanced, and means for advancing the tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

5. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising an ironing tool having a blunt, chisel' like operating edge for shaping the upper into the angle between a feather and a rib on the insole of the shoe and an ironing surface for pressing the upper materials down onto the feather, means for'engaging the bottom of the shoe to locate the shoe in proper heightwise relation to the tool, means for rapidly and continuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and

means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials of a shoe.

6. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising an ironing tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe, supporting means for engaging the bottom of the shoe in the inside angle between the feather and the rib to locate the shoe heightwise of the tool and to hold it against widthwise movement by the tool, means for rapidly and continuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials of a shoe held against said supporting means.

'7. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising a reciprocating ironing tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe,'said tool being arranged to be advanced to an operative position, supporting means for engaging the bottom of a shoe in the inside I advanced, and means for advancing the tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

8. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted shoe comprising a reciprocating ironing tool'for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of th shoe, said tool being arranged to be ad'- vanced from an inoperative to an operative position, supporting means for engaging the bottom of a shoe in the inside angle of the rib to hold the shoe against widthwise movement by the tool and to locate the shoe heightwise so that the tool, when it is advanced, will engage the upper materials where they start to curve abruptly inwardly over the shoe bottom, said supporting means being yieldable to follow heightwise movement of the shoe as the tool is advanced, and means for advancing the tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

9. A machine for shaping the upper material of a lasted shoe comprising a reciprocating ironing tool arranged for movement from an inoperative to an operative position and having a blunt,

chisellike operating edge for shaping the upper rib to hold it against widthwise movement by the tool and to locate the shoe heightwise so that the tool, when it is advanced, will engage the upper materials where they start to curve abruptly in-, wardly over the shoe bottom, said supporting means being yieldable to follow heightwise move ment of the shoe as the tool is advanced, and

means for advancing the tool into operative engagement with the upper materials.

10. A machine for shaping the upper materials of a lasted welt shoe. comprising a lasting tool for forcing the upper materials down onto a feather and in against a rib on the insole of the shoe, said tool being arranged to be advanced from an inoperative to an operative position,

supporting means for engaging the bottom of a shoe in the inside angle of the rib to locate the shoe heightwise with respect to the tool and to hold it against widthwise movement by the tool, said supporting means having a face for engaging the inside of the rib to prevent distortion of the rib by the tool as it is advanced, means for rapidly and continuously reciprocating the tool in a direction extending generally lengthwise of the shoe, and means for advancing the reciprocating tool into operative engagement with the upper materials. CHARLES A. ROBINSON. 

